Liberal Democratic Party

They're the young Turks of Japanese politics, a mostly forty-something crowd yearning to be heard above the din of the aging strongmen who have governed the country since 1955.Now, emboldened by a widening political crisis that forced the resignation Thursday of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, the new generation has mounted a charge aimed at routing the Old Guard of the Liberal Democratic Party.In an early victory, the reformers forced party leaders to choose the next Liberal Democratic president by secret ballot rather than in traditional back-room meetings.

JAPAN TOKYO -- Japanese voters cast ballots Sunday in hotly contested parliamentary elections in which the ruling conservative party, battered by a laggard economy and voter desire for change, was expected to suffer an overwhelming defeat. All major polls predicted the Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for all but 11 months since 1955, would lose.

TOKYO -- Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party suffered a stinging setback in parliamentary elections on Sunday, barely retaining the governing coalition's control over the powerful lower house despite a near-record-low turnout that was expected to favor the parties in power. The unexpected weakness of the Liberal Democrats appeared to set the stage for a power struggle in the party and the possible resignation under pressure of its recently appointed prime minister, Yoshiro Mori.

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Cabinet resigned today, clearing the way for new ruling party leader Yasuo Fukuda to be named by parliament as his successor. He was elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party on Sunday, assuring his selection as prime minister because of the LDP's majority in the lower house, the stronger of two chambers.

Niwa, a former Japanese labor minister, died Friday of heart failure 12 days after he was stabbed by a mental patient. He was 79. Niwa had been hospitalized in Aichi, in central Japan, since he was stabbed. A 12-term member of the governing Liberal Democratic Party in Parliament, Niwa was labor minister from December 1988 to June 1989.

ELECTION SURVEY. Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is likely to retain a majority in the powerful lower house of parliament in elections Sunday, a local survey showed Wednesday. The survey of 110,000 voters conducted by the Kyodo News Agency showed the Liberal Democrats likely to win 271 seats in the 512-seat house, enabling it to control most of the important committees.

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's chances of remaining in power diminished Sunday when two vice-ministers resigned on the eve of a no-confidence vote that threatens to split his ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Both tendered their resignations so that they could vote for the no-confidence motion due to be put forward this evening.

JAPAN TOKYO -- Japanese voters cast ballots Sunday in hotly contested parliamentary elections in which the ruling conservative party, battered by a laggard economy and voter desire for change, was expected to suffer an overwhelming defeat. All major polls predicted the Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for all but 11 months since 1955, would lose.

Nakajima, a former Liberal Democratic Party member of Japan's lower house of parliament, died Friday in Tokyo of liver failure. He was 62. Nakajima, who was elected to the House of Representatives seven times, served as education minister between 1988 and 1989.

Two potential coalition partners spurned early advances by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Monday, foreshadowing a lengthy tug-of-war to form the new conservative-led government. The Liberal Democratic Party made major gains in Sunday's parliamentary elections, helped by Hashimoto's promises to overhaul Japan's bureaucracy and voter disenchantment with the political turmoil of the past three years.

TOKYO -- A day after abruptly announcing his resignation, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was hospitalized with gastrointestinal problems Thursday, and the governing Liberal Democratic Party pushed back the date to choose his successor. Abe is expected to stay in the hospital at least three days because he is suffering from digestive problems and a lack of appetite brought on by fatigue and stress, according to his doctor. Party officials had cited Abe's poor health as one reason behind his resignation.

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose year-old government has suffered damaging scandals and a humiliating electoral defeat, has told ruling party leaders he intends to resign, an official said today. Tadamori Oshima, parliamentary affairs chief for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Abe would make the resignation announcement later in the day. Abe's scandal-scarred government lost control of the upper house of parliament in July 29 elections. Abe was facing a battle in parliament over his efforts to extend the country's refueling mission in support of the U.S.-led operation in Afghanistan.

Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizen's lobbying organization, made a very strong case in last Monday's Sentinel for impeaching our U.S. attorney general. I am not familiar with Common Cause and wondered how "nonpartisan" its views and efforts were in the political field. I went to the Web to find out about Common Cause. I found out that it is so nonpartisan that almost all of its causes were the same as that of the liberal Democratic Party. It seems Common Cause is so "nonpartisan" that the Republican viewpoint on issues is rarely considered.

TOKYO -- Shinzo Abe, the front-runner to become Japan's new prime minister, called Friday for his country to build a stronger military as a deterrent and to push ahead with economic reforms as candidates launched their campaigns to lead the governing party. The conservative Abe, who serves as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's chief Cabinet secretary, also criticized China and South Korea for a diplomatic standoff with Tokyo and touted Japan's close ties with Washington. Abe faces Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki and Foreign Minister Taro Aso in a Sept.

TOKYO -- Japan's ruling party approved a package of bills Thursday to privatize the country's postal service, the top item in the government's reform agenda after its decisive election victory last week. The bills, whose rejection by the upper house last month prompted Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to call snap elections, cleared a Liberal Democratic Party panel and were approved by LDP leadership, a party official said.

TOKYO -- Stung by defeat on a cherished economic reform, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will lead a bruised and fractured ruling party into elections next month amid the prospect of being ousted from power after almost 50 years of uninterrupted rule. Koizumi's campaign to privatize the post office's staggeringly rich savings-account system was rejected by Parliament's upper house Monday with the help of defectors from his own Liberal Democratic Party.

KAIFU PLEDGES REFORM. In his first policy speech since taking office in August, Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu pledged Monday to press ahead with political reform and a review of an unpopular 3 percent sales tax. Kaifu addressed Parliament after the Liberal Democratic Party's victory in a weekend election indicated the scandal-ridden party's fortunes are improving. On Sunday, the party won a by-election to fill a vacancy in Parliament's upper house.

TAKESHITA'S DEPARTURE POSTPONED. Disgraced Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita will stay in office longer than expected because the governing party has been unable to find a successor, party officials said Friday. Liberal Democratic Party officials also said Takeshita accepted a request from party executives to help in the search, which has been stalled since the most likely candidate rejected the post. The prime minister originally was scheduled to step down at the end of this month.

TOKYO -- Japan needs a full-fledged military for its national defense and to help it play a greater role in international security, the ruling party said Monday in a draft proposal of revisions to the country's pacifist constitution. The Liberal Democratic Party's constitution draft committee on Monday presented the document, which cuts the "no war" clause from Article 9 and outlines an expanded role for the military.

TOKYO -- Japan's upper house of parliament elected its first female speaker Friday as lawmakers gathered for a special session after elections two weeks ago. Chikage Ogi, 71, a veteran lawmaker from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was voted in at the session. Parliament's lower house elected a woman -- Takako Doi of the opposition Democratic Socialist Party -- as speaker in 1993. She served three years.